Drought threatens West Texas town's existence

Water supply nearly depleted in Robert Lee, crippling its tourism and ranching.

BY ALLAN TURNERallan.turner@chron.com

Updated 6:12 pm, Monday, August 15, 2011

Photo: Michael Paulsen/Houston Chronicle

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County Extension Agent, Garrett Gilliam, walks through a sun-scorched cracked lake bed where at one time an estimated 30-feet of water once stood at Lake E.V. Spence, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011, in Robert Lee. "The morale is to survive," Gilliam said. "The good times will come again and we just keep praying to the good Lord that he'll bless us."

County Extension Agent, Garrett Gilliam, walks through a sun-scorched cracked lake bed where at one time an estimated 30-feet of water once stood at Lake E.V. Spence, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011, in Robert Lee.

County Extension Agent, Garrett Gilliam, walks through a sun-scorched cracked lake bed where at one time an estimated 30-feet of water once stood at Lake E.V. Spence, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011, in Robert Lee.

County Extension Agent, Garrett Gilliam, walks through a sun-scorched cracked lake bed where at one time an estimated 30-feet of water once stood at Lake E.V. Spence, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011, in Robert Lee.

Photo: Michael Paulsen, Michael Paulsen/Houston Chronicle

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Bobby Blaylock, County Commisioner and rancher, walks down to his sun-scorched watering tank he used to use for livestock on his ranch, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011, in Robert Lee. Blaylock and his sons grew up fishing in the tank, "We caught some lunchers out of this place, good memories with my boys," he said. "We take water for granted until it stops coming out of the faucet," Blaylock said.

Bobby Blaylock, County Commisioner and rancher, walks down to his sun-scorched watering tank he used to use for livestock on his ranch, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011, in Robert Lee. Blaylock and his sons grew up

Jennifer Scott (right) looks at what's left of their water supply as her mother, Lori Sevier, looks on, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011, in Robert Lee. City officials are asking residents to boil the city water before drinking it and some residents like Scott, refuse to drink the salty cloudy water. "We have animals, how are we supposed to water them when we can barely take care of ourselves," Scott said.

Jennifer Scott (right) looks at what's left of their water supply as her mother, Lori Sevier, looks on, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011, in Robert Lee. City officials are asking residents to boil the city water

Lori Sevier grabs a bottled water to brush her teeth at her home as she refuses to use the salty cloudy city water with a foul smell, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011, in Robert Lee.

Lori Sevier grabs a bottled water to brush her teeth at her home as she refuses to use the salty cloudy city water with a foul smell, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011, in Robert Lee.

Photo: Michael Paulsen/Houston Chronicle

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A roadside sign leading into the drought stricken city of Robert Lee, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011.

A roadside sign leading into the drought stricken city of Robert Lee, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011.

Photo: Michael Paulsen/Houston Chronicle

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Bobby Blaylock, County Commisioner and rancher, uses dowsing rods to look for water on his ranch, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011, in Robert Lee. Currenlty, Blaylock has a decent well that his father dug years ago that provides enough water for his family and livestock, but he has practiced water-witching for many years in case he needs to red rill. "I have no explanation as to why it works," Blaylock said. "They just cross for some people."

Bobby Blaylock, County Commisioner and rancher, uses dowsing rods to look for water on his ranch, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011, in Robert Lee. Currenlty, Blaylock has a decent well that his father dug years ago

Caleb Ward, 10, does a cannonball as children play in the Robert Lee city pool as the temperature toped out at 110 degrees, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011, in Robert Lee.
The city's pool was recently used by a firefighting helicopter when it scooped several hundred gallons to be dropped on a nearby wildfire that threatened the town and burnt 160,000 acres. less

Caleb Ward, 10, does a cannonball as children play in the Robert Lee city pool as the temperature toped out at 110 degrees, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011, in Robert Lee.
The city's pool was recently used by a ... more

Photo: Michael Paulsen/Houston Chronicle

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Rancher, Lee Hortenstine, checks a water trough on his ranch as the temperature toped out at 110 degrees, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011, in Robert Lee. The city of Robert Lee is experiencing an unprecedented drought receiving around 3 inches of rain in the past year. The city's drinking water is nearly dried up coming from the local Lake E.V. Spence which is at .7% capacity. Families have been forced to conserve water cutting back from 20,000 gallons per family per month to 3,000 to 4,000 gallons. If the city continues to receive no significant rain fall, the city will run out of water by early 2012.

Rancher, Lee Hortenstine, checks a water trough on his ranch as the temperature toped out at 110 degrees, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011, in Robert Lee. The city of Robert Lee is experiencing an unprecedented

Robert Lee residents raise their hands when asked if they would be interested in volunteering their time and resources to build a pipeline to nearby town Bronte which would ship water the to the drought stricken town during a town hall meeting attraction nearly 300 residents, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011, in Robert Lee.

Robert Lee residents raise their hands when asked if they would be interested in volunteering their time and resources to build a pipeline to nearby town Bronte which would ship water the to the drought

Lori Sevier (right) tells Phorney Smith (left) "I love this town, but it's going to pots," after attending a town meeting to discuss the impending water issues plaguing their town, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011, in Robert Lee. "The water stinks" Smith said. "We can't even use the water we're paying the city for. When I take a shower, I have to dump bottled water over my body again just to clean off the slimy stink."

A sign notifies residents that the ice is not from the local reservoir which many residents refuse to drink, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011, in Robert Lee.

A sign notifies residents that the ice is not from the local reservoir which many residents refuse to drink, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011, in Robert Lee.

Photo: Michael Paulsen/Houston Chronicle

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A picnicking area now sits isolated from the water, when at one time it rested feet from Lake E.V. Spence which is at 0.7% capacity providing a small trickle of drinking water to nearby town Robert Lee, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011.

A picnicking area now sits isolated from the water, when at one time it rested feet from Lake E.V. Spence which is at 0.7% capacity providing a small trickle of drinking water to nearby town Robert Lee,

Bobby Blaylock's horse holds a rare treat in his mouth, a cold bottled water, that he snatched out of his owner's hand, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011, in Robert Lee. "You got to make time for God's animals," Blaylock said, "and they'll take care of you. We take water for granted until it stops coming out of the faucet."

Bobby Blaylock's horse holds a rare treat in his mouth, a cold bottled water, that he snatched out of his owner's hand, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011, in Robert Lee. "You got to make time for God's animals,"

Trace Oleksiuk, 12, jumps into the Robert Lee city pool as the temperature toped out at 110 degrees, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011. The city's pool was recently used by a firefighting helicopter when it scooped several hundred gallons to be dropped on a nearby wildfire that threatened the town and burnt 160,000 acres.

Trace Oleksiuk, 12, jumps into the Robert Lee city pool as the temperature toped out at 110 degrees, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011. The city's pool was recently used by a firefighting helicopter when it scooped

Trace Oleksiuk, 12, jumps into the Robert Lee city pool as the temperature toped out at 110 degrees, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011, in Robert Lee. The city's pool was recently used by a firefighting helicopter when it scooped several hundred gallons to be dropped on a nearby wildfire that threatened the town and burnt 160,000 acres.

Trace Oleksiuk, 12, jumps into the Robert Lee city pool as the temperature toped out at 110 degrees, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011, in Robert Lee. The city's pool was recently used by a firefighting helicopter when

Jesus Landeros, 14, walks to the city pool and past a spray painted sign directing firefighters to a water source to fill their tankers while fighting the recent Wildcat Fire that threatened the town and burnt 160,000 acres, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011, in Robert Lee.

Jesus Landeros, 14, walks to the city pool and past a spray painted sign directing firefighters to a water source to fill their tankers while fighting the recent Wildcat Fire that threatened the town and burnt

Rancher Lee Hortenstine's log book of past rains this year illustrates the drought conditions facing West Texas, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011, in Robert Lee.

Rancher Lee Hortenstine's log book of past rains this year illustrates the drought conditions facing West Texas, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011, in Robert Lee.

Photo: Michael Paulsen, Michael Paulsen/Houston Chronicle

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A small dog runs through downtown Robert Lee, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011.

A small dog runs through downtown Robert Lee, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011.

Photo: Michael Paulsen, Michael Paulsen/Houston Chronicle

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A dead fish rests in the sun-scorched cracked lake bed of Lake E.V. Spence, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011, in Robert Lee. The city of Robert Lee is experiencing an unprecedented drought receiving around 3 inches of rain in the past year. The city's drinking water is nearly dried up coming from the local Lake E.V. Spence which is at .7% capacity. Families have been forced to conserve water cutting back from 20,000 gallons per family per month to 3,000 to 4,000 gallons. If the city continues to receive no significant rain fall, the city will run out of water by early 2012.

A dead fish rests in the sun-scorched cracked lake bed of Lake E.V. Spence, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011, in Robert Lee. The city of Robert Lee is experiencing an unprecedented drought receiving around 3 inches

A watering hose sits dry in a sun-parched front lawn where water restrictions prohibit residents from using city water on their lawns, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011, in Robert Lee. The city of Robert Lee is experiencing an unprecedented drought receiving around 3 inches of rain in the past year. The city's drinking water is nearly dried up coming from the local Lake E.V. Spence which is at .7% capacity. Families have been forced to conserve water cutting back from 20,000 gallons per family per month to 3,000 to 4,000 gallons. If the city continues to receive no significant rain fall, the city will run out of water by early 2012.

A watering hose sits dry in a sun-parched front lawn where water restrictions prohibit residents from using city water on their lawns, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011, in Robert Lee. The city of Robert Lee is

The sun rises near Lake E.V. Spence which is at 0.7% capacity and was once a busy recreational getaway, now providing only a small trickle of drinking water to nearby town Robert Lee, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011.

The sun rises near Lake E.V. Spence which is at 0.7% capacity and was once a busy recreational getaway, now providing only a small trickle of drinking water to nearby town Robert Lee, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011.

Photo: Michael Paulsen, Michael Paulsen/Houston Chronicle

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Bobby Blaylock, County Commisioner and rancher, looks at his thermometer reading 110 degrees in the shade at his ranch home, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011, in Robert Lee. "I know that thermometer is correct," Blaylock said. "It's just a few weeks old." "We take water for granted until it stops coming out of the faucet," Blaylock said. The city of Robert Lee is experiencing an unprecedented drought receiving around 3 inches of rain in the past year. The city's drinking water is nearly dried up coming from the local Lake E.V. Spence which is at .7% capacity. Families have been forced to conserve water cutting back from 20,000 gallons per family per month to 3,000 to 4,000 gallons. If the city continues to receive no significant rain fall, the city will run out of water by early 2012.

Bobby Blaylock, County Commisioner and rancher, looks at his thermometer reading 110 degrees in the shade at his ranch home, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011, in Robert Lee. "I know that thermometer is correct,"

Dennis Ross holds his antique rain gauge that has seen little use outside his home, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011, in Robert Lee. "The yard's dried up completely," Ross said, "The good part is I haven't had to mow all year." When asked if he's sell the rain gauge, Ross said, "Nope, I can't. It might actually rain one of these days and my wife will kill me."

Dennis Ross holds his antique rain gauge that has seen little use outside his home, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011, in Robert Lee. "The yard's dried up completely," Ross said, "The good part is I haven't had to mow

Players on the 6-man football team at Robert Lee High School run wind-sprints at the end of a two-a-day practice on a scorched-brown football field Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011, in Robert Lee. Players are frequently yelled at by coaches to avoid the green spots of grass to help promote the minimal growth that is occurring. The school waters the field nightly, putting on over 6,000 gallons a day costing $200 per load of water that is trucked in from a neighboring city. "We take pride in our field, but it's also a matter of safety," School Superintendent Aaron Hood said. "Not only for out team but for other teams when they visit, they need a semi-soft spot to fall."

School Superintendent and Athletic Director for Robert Lee High School, Aaron Hood, adjusts the underground sprinkler system that is providing the life support for the school's' dried football field, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011, in Robert Lee. The school waters the field nightly, putting on over 6,000 gallons a day costing $200 per load of water that is trucked in from a neighboring city. "We take pride in our field, but it's also a matter of safety," Hood said. "Not only for out team but for other teams when they visit, they need a semi-soft spot to fall."

School Superintendent and Athletic Director for Robert Lee High School, Aaron Hood, adjusts the underground sprinkler system that is providing the life support for the school's' dried football field, Wednesday,

Brennen Hood, 3, tries to help his father, School Superintendent and Athletic Director for Robert Lee High School, Aaron Hood, as he cleans out large chemical containers which will be used as water hauling tanks, at his home, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011, in Robert Lee. Each tank holds nearly 250 gallons of water and residents of Robert Lee are forced to drive to neighboring cities to find water to be used for watering lawns and trees.

Brennen Hood, 3, tries to help his father, School Superintendent and Athletic Director for Robert Lee High School, Aaron Hood, as he cleans out large chemical containers which will be used as water hauling

A barren and dry Lake E.V. Spence is at 0.7% capacity and was once a busy recreational getaway, but now provides a small trickle of drinking water to nearby town Robert Lee, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011.

A barren and dry Lake E.V. Spence is at 0.7% capacity and was once a busy recreational getaway, but now provides a small trickle of drinking water to nearby town Robert Lee, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011.

Photo: Michael Paulsen/Houston Chronicle

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Drought threatens West Texas town's existence

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ROBERT LEE — Garrett Gilliam stared hard into the brown hills beyond the drying lake bed as a vaporous black column spiraled into the cloudless West Texas sky. Maybe it was smoke; maybe just another heat-driven dust devil. Either way, trouble was in the air.

A young man in a white cowboy hat, Gilliam is Coke County's agricultural extension agent and a volunteer firefighter. He has witnessed firsthand the impact of a near-unprecedented drought that has depleted Robert Lee's water supply and spawned more than three dozen wildfires that have raced across the region's arid hills this year.

“That's in the next county,” Gilliam muttered, lowering his eyes, his relief evident.

With Texas gripped in a seemingly intractable drought that state climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon has declared the worst single-year dry spell in 116 years, Robert Lee, population 1,106, has emerged as an alarming worst-case example of what scant rainfall and triple-digit temperatures can do.

Since January, Robert Lee — named for the iconic Army officer who pursued Indians through the region before the Civil War — has received only 3 inches of rain, about a fourth of its midyear average. Daily temperatures routinely approach 110 degrees in the shade.

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The E.V. Spence Reservoir on the nearby Colorado River — Robert Lee's source of drinking water — is more than 99 percent empty. Without a miraculous meteorological turnaround, this town 30 miles north of San Angelo could be bone dry by early next year.

The drought has collapsed lake-based tourism in the town that once called itself “The Playground of West Texas,” led longtime ranchers to sell their livestock and prompted town dwellers to consider moving elsewhere.

The city has implemented Stage 3 drought measures, banning outdoor watering and requiring each household to reduce water use by 30 percent.

Twice this year, local residents gathered on the courthouse's brittle lawn to pray for rain.

Last week, close to 300 townsfolk jammed the high school auditorium to hear engineers and state and local officials outline a last-ditch plan to save their community: construct a 12-mile, 10-inch pipeline to the neighboring water-rich town of Bronte.

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Financed through government loans and grants, one of which would require locals to help do the work, the $1 million-plus pipeline would bring the parched county seat up to 200,000 gallons daily.

Once begun, the audience was assured, the project could be completed in 60 days.

With the pipeline in place, Mayor John Jacobs said, efforts to drill municipal water wells — so far a hit-or-miss proposition — would be intensified.

An irony of West Texas' arid topography is that only a few miles can mean the difference between water wealth and poverty.

Bronte successfully taps a bounty of sweet water from its wells, while Robert Lee thus far finds little water or water tainted by improperly capped abandoned oil wells.

As the town waits for its applications to make their way through funding agencies, city water authorities will begin filling a small, deep reservoir near the town's water plant with lake water.

Once full, the holding pond — less vulnerable to evaporation and algae growth than Spence — should provide Robert Lee water through next April.

Life in Robert Lee and Coke County always has been tenuous. On average, the county receives only 23 inches of rainfall annually, compared to about 30 in Bexar County.

Robert Lee's current trials, City Secretary Kay Torres said, will pass.

“We will overcome this,” she said. “Our lawns will be green again.”

Still, the impact of the water crisis, searing temperatures and wildfires has taken its toll, Mayor Jacobs conceded.

“Mentally and physically, it's wearing on people,” he said.

So severe has been the drought that prickly pear cactuses, the hardiest flora of arid country, have yellowed and shriveled. In April, a fire scorched 160,000 acres, and the approach to Robert Lee on Texas 208 is marked by an unrelenting sea of charred trees.

Hovering above it all like an obscene taunt are the dust devils, swirling masses of dust that rise with the brisk afternoon winds.

“They look just like smoke,” Gilliam said. “You never know if they're from another fire. It's total devastation.”

County Judge Roy Blair, who, like Jacobs, is a part-time rancher, said area cattlemen have beaten a retreat to the sale barns as tanks dried, grass withered and feed shot up in price.

Cattle still on the range have died from eating drought-stressed Johnson grass, which produces hydrocyanic acid. The number of young white-tailed deer — Coke County enjoys a vibrant autumn hunting business — seemingly has declined.

“It's not a fun time,” said rancher Lee Hortenstein, who sold all his cattle except a small breeding herd.

“This whole deal has caught us off guard. ... When the rains slowed off in April and May, we kept saying, ‘Hang on. It's coming, it's coming.' But it never did.”

John Grant, chief of the Colorado River Municipal Water District, which manages the Spence Reservoir, said the crisis has been years in the making. Rainfall in the upper Colorado's 2,400-square-mile watershed has been deficient at least three or four years, he said.

“We haven't been able to buy a raindrop,” he said.

The dwindling lake is not only a threat to Robert Lee's existence, but an emblem of its decline. Owners of upscale lakeside homes have walked away, sometimes leaving boats, golf carts and even family photographs behind, said Josh Barnes, a Robert Lee native who manages the town's swimming pool.

Businesses that once profited from lake-drawn visitors have seen incomes plummet. Tourism, along with oil production and ranching, had been a mainstay of the town's economy. Now, visitors come to marvel at the shrunken lake, its exposed bed a moonscape of 8-inch deep cracks.

“We used to have a boat and go skiing nearly every day,” said Dana Zimmerman, a county employee who confessed that she and her husband have considered — but not made a decision about — leaving.

Blair, the county judge, responded with a weather-worn West Texas stoicism.

“I can't speak for the people,” he said. “But we have years of abundant rain, years of average rain, years when rain is short. I don't think it's global warming or God's wrath. It's just a cycle.